- Yes.
- No.
- In a future Dutch/BeNeLux techtree.
- In the French BeNeLux sub-tree
- Other (Please explain in the comments).
- I said “No” in the first question.
Today I’m going to suggest a very nice light cruiser of the Netherlands Navy.
This is the light cruiser HNLMS Java (1921)
HNLMS Java just before being accepted into service with the Dutch Navy
Source: Foto's
History
Spoiler
HNLMS Java during her final stages of completion
Source: Foto'sDuring the first world war the Dutch Navy started making big plans for the Navy. Among these was a plan for three new light cruisers. These would take shape as the Java-class cruisers. These ships were designed and built by Krupp-Germania at the request of the Dutch Navy after the first world war. The ships of the Java-class were: HNLMS Java, HNLMS Sumatra and HNLMS Celebes (Celebes was canceled before construction properly started).
HNLMS Java was launched on the 9th of August 1921, and would be put into service on the 1st of May 1925. Her early carreer mostly consited of showing the Dutch flag at various colonies and allied nations. She mostly operated within the Dutch East-Indies.
HNLMS Java during a sea trial in 1924
Source: Foto'sAround 1934 HNLMS Java and her sister ship HNLMS Sumatra were in need of a refit, and so they were taken out of service for some time. HNLMS Java was out of service for almost 1,5 years, the refit was considered quite substantial and on top of internal modernizations, the anti-aircraft weaponry was improved at this time. Also the mine rails on the ship were removed now since the Dutch Navy now had a proper fleet of dedicated mine laying ships.
This refit wouldn’t last long since in 1937 HNLMS Java set sail to the Netherlands for yet another refit. The main thing that was changed this time was the anti-aircraft battery again. Now she was fitted with state of the art 40mm Bofors gun turrets made by the Dutch company Hazemeijer.
HNLMS Java in 1925
Source: Foto'sIn 1938 HNLMS Java was back in service, and she went back to the Dutch East-Indies.
During 1939, with the ever increasing tensions between the countries in the East Indies, HNLMS Java was assigned to constant patrol duties to maintian Dutch neutrality.
HNLMS Java in 1938, note the 40mm No. 3 gun turrets on the rear anti-aircraft deck
Source: Foto'sWhen Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, the Netherlands was now dragged into the second world war. And so the Navy present in the Dutch East Indies was put under command of “Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman”, or “Karel Doorman” for short. During the early days of the war the East Indies Navy primarily protected allied convoys. But this would soon change when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Now with Japan joining the war a new combined allied Naval Force was made, the ABDA-Command (American, British, Dutch and Australian Command). Something a lot of people like to skip over was the strong presence the Dutch had in the East Indies. Most of the Dutch fleet operated there. The Dutch were even considered one of the five Naval Powers in the East Indies, the others being America, Britain, Australia and Japan. The Dutch submarine fleet played a vital role in the East Indies and is something I highly recommend more people look into.
HNLMS Java would take part in multible operations after this, something which I’m not going to detail in this suggestion. My suggestions are always about giving you the needed information about the Aircraft, Ground Vehicle or Naval Vessel I’m suggesting. So if you want to know more about what HNLMS Java did during the early stages of the war I recommend you look it up online or in books.
HNLMS Java during night time firing excercises
Source: Foto's
Fate
Spoiler
HNLMS Java during the second world war, now with a gray and black color scheme
Source: Foto'sIn Febuary 1942 a allied task force consiting of two Heavy Cruisers, three Light Cruisers (Including HNLMS Java) and nine Destroyers would take part in what would be known as the Battle of the Java Sea.
Little did they know that this battle would end in an disastrous defeat for the allies. On the 27th of Febuary 1942 the battle began. Karel Doorman, who was the main commander of the allied task force, wanted to intercept a Japanese troop convoy in the Java Sea. But little they he know that they would face of against a much better equipped escort force. The allied fleet faced of against 2 Japanese Heavy Cruisers, two Light Cruisers and fourteen Destroyers.
The battle started of pretty well, but this ended when the Japanese Heavy Cruiser Haguro crippled one of the allied Heavy Cruisers, and destroyed a Destroyer with her torpedoes. The resulting allied frenzy didn’t help either, and the task force made a false retreat, putting an end to the daylight battle.
But Admiral Doorman planned a second attack during the cover of night. However during this attack one of the Allied Destroyers accidentally hit a Dutch Mine and sank. The Japanese caught on to Doorman’s plan, and ordered the Heavy Cruiser Haguro and Nachi to fire a stealthy long range torpedo attack. These torpedoes would end up hitting HNLMS Java, which blew up instantly and sank with almost all hands. Not long after the flagship of the Dutch Navy, HNLMS De Ruyter was also hit by these torpedoes, sinking and also killing Admiral Doorman**
This disastrous battle would mark the end of HNLMS Java. Sadly her wreck was later illegally salvaged after the war, so not much remains of her
Design
Spoiler
A model of the Java-class cruiser
Source: Foto'sThe Java-class light cruisers were made by Krupp-Germania at the request of the Netherlands Navy. The design of the cruiser looks very similar to the German Cruiser Emden, only the Java-class is bigger.
HNLMS Java was 155,3 metres long, had a beam of 16 metres and a draft of 6,1 metres, and displaced 6,776 tons at standard displacement, and 8,339 tons at full. She had a crew of 525 men and was able to reach 31 knots.
The main weaponry of the ship was ten 15cm No. 6 guns. These were Bofors 15cm/50 guns, which were made for the Dutch Navy by both Krupp and Bofors. The guns were spread all around the ship. A superfiring pair at the front, another superfiring pair at the rear, and the remaining six guns were placed at the sides of the ships, with three guns per side. Giving the ship at maximum broadside of seven guns.
The guns had a firerate of around 8 rounds per minute.
Ammunition for the 15cm guns consisted of an AP, two types of HE and a Starshell round.
A photo of the rear 15cm No. 6 turrets, also note the 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 4 guns in the back
Source: Foto'sThe secondairy guns consisted of four 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 4 guns. As the name suggests, these were Semi-Automatic guns mounted in four single mounts, two at the front just above the bridge, and two at the rear just behind the rear turrets.
Sources mention, and blueprints show, four more smaller machine guns on the ship. One at the front on the bridge deck, one machine gun on each side of the ship, mounted on top of one of the 15cm turrets, and the last machine gun is mounted on top of the superfiring rear turret. One source mentions that these machine guns are 12,7mm No. 6 Vickers machine guns. However the 12,7mm Vickers only came around in 1933, and the blueprints that show the machine guns on the ship is dated 1927 so that is not possible.
Thankfully there is another machine gun the Dutch used that fits the description. It’s a 6,5mm No. 6 Vickers machine gun that went into Dutch service in 1924. Assuming the source only got the caliber of the gun wrong then this No. 6 machine gun fits the profile, and also looks the same as the machine guns drawn on the blueprints.
One of the 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 4 guns during a night time excercise
Source: Foto'sAt the time the Java-class was made the Dutch Navy didn’t have a large minelaying fleet yet, and so the Java-class was given access to mine rails too. In total 36 Vickers model 1921 mines could be carried.
The ship was also fitted with two Aircraft Cranes. The Cranes was mounted in between the two smoke funnels, with one on each side of the ship. There was room for two floatplanes, one plane per crane. Originally the Fairey IIID was used on the ship, but these were deemed to fragile by the Navy soon after. So from 1926 onwards the Fokker C.7w was used.
A Fokker C.7w getting lifted onto HNLMS Java in 1930
Source: Foto'sIn 1935 HNLMS Java came in for a refit. During this refit the four 7,5cm guns were removed, and in their place six 40mm No. 1 autocannons (Vickers pom-poms) were added to the rear of the ship. All six guns were located on an anti-aircraft deck. The 40mm autocannons didn’t make enough noise for ceremonial/saluting duties, so another four 47mm 3-pounder saluting guns were added where the two forward 7,5cm guns used to be. The exact gun model of these 47mm guns is not known, but I’m guessing it’s the Hotchkiss 3-pdr QF.
The rear anti-aircraft deck, with six 40mm No. 1 autocannons, after the 1935 refit
Source: Foto'sDuring this refit the four 6,5mm machine guns were removed and replaced with six 12,7mm Colt-Browning machine guns. These were now located next to the forward smoke funnel. A new machine gun deck was created, with three machine guns on each side of the funnel.
A photo taken of the machine gun deck next to the forward smoke funnel
Source: Foto's
A nice photo taken of HNLMS Java where we clearly the see machine gun deck next to the forward smoke funnel. Also if you look closely just in front of the forward smoke funnel, you’ll see the four 47mm saluting guns
Source: Foto'sFinally in 1938 HNLMS Java was refitted again. This refit saw the removal of the 40mm No. 1 guns (Vickers pom-poms), and in their place four twin Hazemeijer No. 3 (Bofors L/60) turrets were added. These were 40mm Bofors autocannons placed in state of the art Hazemeijer gun turrets.These twin mounts were very advanced triaxial mounting together with a tachymetric control system. These first turrets, the No. 3 onces, were put on HNLMS De Ruyter and HNLMS Java.
Just like on HNLMS De Ruyter, all four twin turrets were put on the single anti-aircraft deck just behind the rear 15cm turrets. The turrets were set next to one another in a square shape, and just behind the turrets was a central fire control system also made by Hazemeijer. All in all the very advanced turrets together with their central fire control system made it a very effective and deadly anti-aircraft deck.
A close-up of the Hazemeijer 40mm No. 3 gunmounts onboard HNLMS Java after the 1938 refit
Source: Foto's
A side view of the 40mm No. 3 anti-aircraft deck
Source: | Nationaal Archief
A top-down view of the 40mm No. 3 anti-aircraft deck
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefProtection of the ship was very good at the time she was designed. The belt armour of the ship was a 75 mm thick The upper deck was 10 mm thick, with the deck just below that being 7 mm thick. The actual armoured deck, and also the roof of the armoured citadel was 25 mm thick.
Going from the bottom of the belt armour up to the armoured deck was a 50mm thick turtleback armour plate And finally the turrets were protected by 100 mm of armour.
A blueprint of the inside of the ship, showing the internal armour layout
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefThere is one last cool thing I wanted to show you. It’s not relevant to this suggestion due to it not actually being put on the ship. But while going through the blueprints I came accross the blueprint seen below. It shows two twin 40mm No. 3 turrets being located right next to the bridge. Details regarding this setup are unknown. Maybe it was an early proposal for a potential 40mm turret layout, of maybe it was part of the actual planned refit, but later scrapped due to any kind of reason. Either way I find it pretty cool, and if it was part of the original refit then HNLMS Java would have planned with six twin 40mm No. 3 turrets!
But just to be sure, this is only seen on blueprints! These turrets in this location were never fitted to the ship!
The blueprint of the proposed 40mm gun turrets next to the bridge
Source: | Nationaal Archief
Ingame
Spoiler
HNLMS Java is a very solid light cruiser, it’s got good armour, lot’s of guns, and in later refits it’s got fantastic anti-aircraft weaponry The ship is pretty much a larger German cruiser Emden, which we already have ingame.Also in her 1938 refit the four twin 40mm Bofors turrets (If modeled accurately ingame) are triaxial stabalized, and so even when the ship is in rough seas or making turns the 40mm turrets can stay on target.
My first choice would be to have this ship be added into a independent BeNeLux techtree. But ofcourse the BeNeLux has been added to France, so this is now the only option where Dutch vehicles will go to. But it must be said that the Netherlands and France have nothing in common, and do not make sense to combine together ingame.
In the French tree HNLMS Java serves a cool light cruiser design that the French currently don’t have ingame. I remember playing the Emden back in the day and the turret layout was a lot of fun to play with, and HNLMS Java would do exactly the same.
Specifications
Spoiler
A side view cutaway of the ship
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefStandard Displacement: 6,776 tons
Full Displacement: 8,339 tons
Length: 155,3 m
Beam: 16 m
Draft: 6,1 m
Installed powerplant: 3 x Germania steamturbines, 8 x Schultz-Thornycroft boilers (73.000 hp)
Propulsion: 3 x shafts, 4,1 meter three bladed propellors
Maximum speed: 31 knots
Crew: 525 menArmor:
Belt: 75 mm
Upper Deck: 10 mm
Lower Deck: 7 mm
Armoured deck / Roof of the Citadel: 25 mm
Angled turtleback armour: 50 mm
Conning tower: 125 mm
Turrets: 100 mmArmament: (As laid down)
10 x 1 15cm No. 6 guns
4 x 1 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 4 guns
4 x 1 6,5mm No. 6 machine guns (Vickers M.23)
36 x Vickers model 1921 mines2 x Aircraft cranes, with two Fairey IIID floatplanes carried. (Max speed 190 km/h, 2 x 7.7 mm machine guns, one firing forwards, and one for the gunner)
1935 refit:
10 x 1 15cm No. 6 guns
6 x 1 40mm No. 1 autocannons (Vickers Pom-Poms)
6 x 1 12,7mm Colt-Browning machine guns
4 x 1 47mm 3-pounder saluting guns2 x Aircraft cranes, with two Fokker C.7w floatplanes carried. (Max speed 160 km/h, 2 x 7.7 mm machine guns, one firing forwards, and one for the gunner)
1938 refit:
10 x 1 15cm No. 6 guns
4 x 2 40mm No. 3 autocannons (Bofors L/60’s)
6 x 1 12,7mm Colt-Browning machine guns
4 x 1 47mm 3-pounder saluting guns2 x Aircraft cranes, with two Fokker C.7w floatplanes carried. (Max speed 160 km/h, 2 x 7.7 mm machine guns, one firing forwards, and one for the gunner)
A top-down view of the ship
Source: | Nationaal Archief
HNLMS Java after her 1938 refit
Source: Foto's
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about this amazing machine.
See you on the battlefield!
Sources
Spoiler
Dutch sources:
- “Nederlandse marineschepen 1939-1945” book, by Peter Kimenai
- Nederlandse Lichte-kruisers van de Java-klasse (1920) - TracesOfWar.nl
Secondairy sources:
Fokker C.11w floatplane:
Photos:
Blueprints: